Why it works: Tomato and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 17,923 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓
Broiled Tomatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the half-ripe tomatoes and cut them into thick slices.
Season the slices with salt and pepper.
Roll the seasoned slices in flour.
Cook and serve
Fry the slices in a little hot fat in a frying pan.
Serve immediately.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Tomato + peppertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,923 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
-
Pepper + flourtop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together50,459 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Tomato + flourtop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,065 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Half-ripe tomatoes
- Provide the main body of the dish, holding their shape as they cook.
- Flour
- Forms a light coating that helps the slices brown and gives a crisp outside.
- Hot fat
- Conducts heat to the slices, browning their surfaces and adding richness.
The step that matters
Rolling the slices in flour. Flour must coat the slices evenly and not clump. An even dry layer absorbs surface moisture and browns uniformly in the hot fat, while thick patches can stay pasty or burn.
Swap the tomato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (pepper, flour):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Okrafits better
- Spinachfits better
- Tomatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against pepper, flour. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More broiled tomatoes recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Cream of Tomato Soup107 recipes
Tomato Bisque61 recipes
Cream Tomato Soup28 recipes